Blue Jeans and a Sledgehammer
by Crowlows19
Summary: AU. Some men are born to survive. Some men have a capacity to forgive that rivals the greatest Saints of Heaven. Severus Snape is one of those men. Armed with his blue jeans and sledgehammer, he's the best guardian a little hero could hope for.
1. Chapter 1

This story was inspired by the song "Blue Jeans and a Rosary" by Kid Rock, although it is not a song fic. I doubt you'd even recognize the connection if I didn't say anything but there you have it. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

**It was to be an exciting sorting that year. Not because anything particularly special was set to take place other the homecoming of Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived. It had long been anticipated by the people of the Wizarding World and Dumbledore was as excited as anyone to see the child after so many years. He had long been wondering how baby Harry had turned out after the initial fears of leaving him in the care of the Durselys.

Minerva had warned him, quite ominously, of the potential trauma of leaving the child with his Aunt and Uncle. But with no emergencies the issue was moot. Until today that is; when they would see if the boy was every bit the boy they expected him to be. The staff had been talking for days about which House the child would go to. The general consensus was a Gryffindor sorting, as both his parents had been in that House. Despite the oft spoke comfort that Wizarding parents told their departing eleven-year-old, having your child follow you into your House was a great honor whether you were there to see it or not.

So with all the anticipation and hype that surrounded the boy's coming home, it was no wonder that the actual arrival was as boring as they came. The sorting went on as normal and the boy was sorted to Gryffindor as expected. Dumbledore eyed him carefully from his spot at the staff table. The young, black haired Gryffindor was chatting with his fellow first years, even going out of his way to engage a Muggleborn who seemed a little nervous about joining in. Whatever the child had said to her got her chatting without even a pause to take a breath.

It was all rather heartening. The boy appeared happy, he ate enough for two, and there appeared to be no hint of darkness behind his eyes. The first week of classes passed with no incidents. As did the second, third, fourth, and fifth. In fact it wasn't until Halloween that anything remotely interesting happened. The troll caused no damage; no students were caught in its destructive path. At most there were now some characteristic dents in the stone wall. The incident passed into Hogwarts legend and the students moved on with relative ease and excitement.

Although Dumbledore did overhear the most interesting of perspectives as to the continued safety of Hogwarts as he made his usual Tuesday afternoon stroll down the Transfiguration hallway.

"...er said that if the Headmaster can't keep Hogwarts safe they may shut it down," said a first year voice Dumbledore recognized as Draco Malfoy's. Dumbledore paused just before the corner to listen. It was always good to know what the senior Malfoy was saying.

"Don't be thick," said another equally known voice, Harry. "That troll had nothing to do with Hogwarts' safety policy and your dad knows it."

"We cannot have trolls walking around Hogwarts," Draco replied in disdain.

"Schools go into lockdown all the time," Harry replied. "Things happen. Muggle schools run drills to prepare for that stuff."

"All that means is that Muggles are violent things," Draco said, an air of superiority.

"Oh, nevermind," Harry said, giving up.

Dumbledore had never heard of these drills, the boy spoke of. Did Muggle schools really prepare for safety threats? What a pessimistic view. Not even the Prefects were given information on how to act in times of emergency beyond finding the nearest adult to effectively deal with the situation. What an interesting concept, these drills.

The school year preceded with no outlandish issues. Dumbledore did take note however that Harry and Draco seemed at odds with each other. While the old Headmaster would have expected the Gryffindor to be the one to grow angry quickly, it seemed to be the opposite. The child appeared to be able to let insults and taunts bounce right off him as if they were nothing and not worth his notice or energy. This calmness in the face of Draco's increasing nastiness only gave the Slytherin cause to use others in order to get a rise from Harry.

And that was when the violence erupted between the two children; for while Harry seemed capable to taking a remarkable amount of adversity he seemed incapable of allowing others to take it unnecessarily. Therefore, no one was particularly surprised when a prejudiced remark towards Harry's favorite Muggleborn, Hermione, sent the child into a fit of protective rage. What did surprise people however was that the boy seemed to forget that he was a Wizard and foregoing his wand, punched the other boy so hard he lost a tooth.

Unfortunately that attracted Lucius Malfoy to the school and the result was a meeting in the Headmaster's office with the Heads of Houses, the boys, and the guardians.

"Mr. Potter, this incident cannot be resolved without your guardians input," Dumbledore told the boy, who was sitting, head held high and arms crossed. "What would be the best medium in order to contact your Aunt?"

"My Aunt?" the boy asked, confused. "What does my Aunt have to do with this?"

"She is your guardian," Dumbledore replied, wondering what the confusion was.

"Um, no sir," the child told him. "I haven't seen the Durselys since I was six."

Dumbledore paused, shocked, and wondered how he could have missed such thing. Although it's not as if he had ever paid that close of attention to the situation on Private Drive. He was trying to give the family their space.

"Then who have you been living with, child?" the Headmaster asked. The boy paused fully aware of the rapt stares he was receiving from everyone in the room.

"Um, Snape," he replied. "Severus Snape." The atmosphere in the room immediately shifted to something substantially more tense. Lucius stiffened; Minerva gasped; Horace grimaced; and Dumbledore felt his shoulders stiffen. Harry, ever the perceptive child, picked up on the sudden tenseness. "Is something wrong?"

"How did you come to be living with Mr. Snape?" Dumbledore asked grasping for information about the former student. His handling of the situation between James Potter and Severus Snape had been the worst mistake of his career. Having known James Potter all his life he had not thought the rambunctious student capable of cold-hearted bullying. He'd figured that that enmity between the two students was simply over a girl, Lily.

Looking back, that may have been how it started but not how it continued. He could admit that he had mishandled the situation by assuming that the Slytherin was merely trying to cover for himself in order to escape all punishments. That was until the boy, at fifteen, three weeks before OWLs, came into his office, placed his wand on the desk, and walked out the front door of Hogwarts, never to return. Dumbledore had heard that the boy briefly visited the Wizarding World for various reasons, one of them to spit on Voldemort's offer to join the ranks of the Death Eaters. Other than those few visits the ex-Slytherin had been living with his father in the Muggle world. Dumbledore didn't know any more details.

"That's none of your business," the boy replied. Dumbledore nodded recognizing that the last thing Harry wanted to do was talk about a personal issue in front of an enemy and his father.

"Oh, of course," Dumbledore conceded. "And how do I contact Mr. Snape?"

"Do you have a telephone?" Harry asked skeptically. Knowing what he did of the Magical world he doubted that the Headmaster even knew what a telephone was. However, Dumbledore had acquired one some time ago in order to contact the parents of Muggleborns with relative ease. He made quick work of acquiring the appropriate number, which turned out to be a communal phone in the building Severus was living in. Having-rather uncomfortably-informed the runaway student that he was needed at Hogwarts he inquired if the other man required assistance in reaching the school.

"No," came the short reply. "I'll be there soon."

And he was there very soon. Dumbledore was positive that the only way he could have been there that quick was if he'd apparated. That wasn't inconceivable as one didn't require a school education in order to pass the Apparition test.

When the man arrived he didn't bother knocking, he simply entered looking distinctly uncomfortable himself. His hair-once long and greasy-was cut very short giving his features an even sharper look than Dumbledore remembered. He was wearing Muggle blue jeans, work boots, and work shirt with the name Mack Shipping on the breast. He was much more muscular than Dumbledore remembered as well. The Headmaster also spied a tattoo on the man's right forearm; a black sun. The man eyed the room wearily before closing the door behind him and taking the empty seat next to Harry.

"What's this all about?" he asked, his voice a mix of tense and tired. Shaking off his nearly uncontrollable need to ask the questions running through his head, Dumbledore spoke as professionally as he could given the sudden twist in today's events.

"It appears that both young Harry and young Draco have taken to extreme enmity," Dumbledore informed them. "After an exchange of words, Mr. Potter struck Mr. Malfoy hard enough to knock loose a tooth."

Severus rested his elbow on his knee and dropped his head into his head.

"Brilliant," he muttered. Harry avoided the man's eye quite effectively.

"And what started this altercation?" Lucius asked. Severus straightened up to give the Headmaster his full attention.

"Apparently, a rather prejudiced remark towards a Muggleborn. A friend of Mr. Potter's."

At this information Severus sent a look towards Lucius who refused to meet the other man's gaze. Dumbledore knew that the two of them had been good friends when Severus was still in the Wizarding World. The blond was five years Severus's senior and when he had graduated Severus had been left without an older ally to counteract the Marauders.

Dumbledore wondered if the two had had some sort of contact recently. It may explain why Severus seemed to think that Draco Malfoy having an anti-Muggleborn sentiment was a ridiculous move on Lucius's part. It also explained why Lucius, never one to back down from his opinions, suddenly refused to have eye contact with a man who lived in the Muggle world.

"What's the punishment?" Severus asked, turning back to the Headmaster.

"That is what we are here to decide," the old man responded. "I want to avoid an expulsion wherever possible but this cannot go without more than a slap on the wrist." The Headmaster's intense eye contact with the dark haired man gave the clear message that he had learned his lesson. "My recommendation would be suspension without the possibility of making up the missed work. As for the young Mr. Malfoy, this blatant prejudice will not be condoned inside Hogwarts. I am proposing at least one month of detention to be served with the Muggle Studies teacher, Professor Bibbage."

"Sounds fair," Severus replied, his voice laced with anger. Harry sent him a rather uncomfortable look; he knew he was in an extreme amount of trouble.

"Yes," Lucius replied, truly unable to suggest anything else. "That does sound fair."

* * *

He really hadn't wanted to go home with Sev for a full week. As the man dragged his trunk though the door of their small one-room flat, he considered very strongly just turning around and running away.

"Don't even think of doing something as stupid as running, HJ," the man snarled. His shoulders slumped in relief at the name that Sev always called him. He loved that name. It sounded much cooler than 'Harry'. He liked how it made him sound a little older. His friends at Hogwarts all called him HJ but he had never bothered to ask the professors to use the nickname.

The boy entered the cold little room, closing and locking the door behind him. It looked just as he'd left it. Sev's bed and night table were hidden behind the curtain that separated them from the rest of the flat. The dingy, red pinstriped couch that served as his bed. The old telly, the million books that were in piles around the room, the clothes rack that held their small wardrobes though his was sitting in the trunk Sev had dropped by the door.

The man was currently rooting around in the mini fridge, probably looking for some sort of alcohol. Sure enough when the man straightened up he had a beer in his hand and a scowl on his face.

"I'm sorry," HJ blurted, more than a little nervous about Sev's reaction to his latest act of naughtiness. He felt guilty for making Sev go all the way to his most hated location after working those fourteen hour days at the docks.

"No, you aren't," Sev replied brushing past him and heading to the couch. "You're perfectly satisfied with yourself. Don't lie to me." He didn't argue the point that he wasn't satisfied with what he'd done. Draco had said some incredibly nasty things about Hermione and deserved to have a missing tooth.

"It wasn't like he didn't deserve to be hit," HJ argued, wanting to make Sev see that it wasn't as bad as all that. "If you knew what he really did-"

"I don't care what _he_ did!" Sev yelled, making HJ jump in surprise. "I only care about what _you_ did. You know better than to hit someone who can't defend themselves! There was no way that was a fair fight and you know it!"

"That's not my fault!" HJ responded as equally loud as his guardian. "Just because no one ever taught him how to punch doesn't mean that he didn't deserve it."

"HJ you were in Hogwarts!" Sev said as if the boy hadn't known where he was. "They don't work the same way as the people do here. The only way to win a fight in Hogwarts is to outsmart the other guy. Using your fists will only get you pushed out the front door."

The boy didn't have anything to say to that. He knew, of course, what had happened between his birth father and his guardian to an extent. It was something they never talked about. Severus didn't like thinking about it and HJ had never had the stones to say anything about it.

"Sev," he started, then stopped unsure of how to continue. The man sighed and set his beer on the stack of books to his right.

"Come here HJ," he said and patted the cushion beside him. The boy quickly sat down and settled into the back of the couch. He'd missed his couch. The bed in the dorm was comfy enough but nothing beat home, even if it wasn't much. "Knocking someone's teeth out is all well and good when they're coming for you, but if you start the fight you'll only end up in jail. Trust me when I say that the last place you want to end up in is Wizard jail."

"Why?"

"Because they have Magic," the man replied. "It isn't pretty. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. It's one of the biggest problems a Wizard faces. Power can go to your head very quickly and the more you have the easier it is to use it. But you know better than to hit someone for running their mouth."

"Let 'em run, eventually they'll trip and fall," HJ recited the old saying Sev used to tell him when he had been in primary and catching the mickey from some class bullies.

"Exactly," he said. "I know that sometimes it's the last thing you want to do but it's better than no education, no money, and mouths to feed."

"I'm sorry," the boy repeated feeling truly guilty. Severus clapped him on the knee.

"I know bud," he said. "You'll have to work extra hard for the rest of the semester in order to make up for these zeroes you're getting."

"Y'sir."

* * *

And work hard he did. Dumbledore, not one to completely ignore the Boy Who Lived after finding out he'd missed something very big, was very pleased to see that the child had managed to get excellent grades. He'd also managed to stay out of trouble as well. There were no altercations between Harry and Draco for the rest of the year; in fact, Draco didn't seem to want to be anywhere near the other boy for fear of losing another tooth. Nobody else seemed to want to provoke the boy either after his display of brute strength and his nonchalance about the suspension. Although Dumbledore had heard rumors that Miss Granger had been quite upset that the boy had gotten himself suspended on her behalf. Both of them were such good Gryffindors.

Quirell's body was found in front of the mirror, the Dark Lord having left it in a fit of rage when he realized he would not be getting the Stone. Dumbledore and the Ministry managed to keep the matter quiet and the body was removed from Hogwarts and buried on Azkaban Island. No one would think to look for it there and no one would think anything of another body. The stone was returned to Flammel, who set his affairs in order and died peacefully with his wife. No one seemed to be the wiser.

Except that Dumbledore was certain he saw Harry watching them from a window on the second floor as they carried Quirell's body out. He only saw the boy for a quick moment as he scanned the windows and by the time his eyes had snapped back to confirm what he'd seen the boy was gone. Dumbledore was starting to wonder if giving him that invisibility cloak had been a good idea. It had seemed like the perfect gesture at the time.

The old Headmaster had watched the child carefully during breakfast the next morning but nothing appeared out of ordinary. With no way of knowing if what he saw was what he thought he saw, he put the matter behind him. There was no need to suspect the boy unduly.

So the rest of the year passed quietly and soon Hogwarts was closing for the summer. All things considered it had been a very quiet year.

* * *

_Three Years Later_

"HJ! Get up!"

The fifteen-year-old groaned and buried his head deeper into his pillow only to have the blankets ripped off and the cushion he was laying on picked up and turned so he went sprawling to the floor.

"Hey!" he protested angrily, doing his best to bring Sev's face into focus through the sleepiness and bad eyesight. The blob that was his guardian leaned down and perched the black, square framed glasses on his nose.

"Get up," he repeated.

"Why?" he whined, laying on the floor as if it was a bed.

"Because there are people here to see you," Sev replied. With that information, HJ was jogged out of sleepiness and sat up quickly. Looking at him from behind the couch was the real Moody (or so he assumed), Remus, and a lady he didn't know with violently pink hair.

"Hi Remus!," he greeted happily and the werewolf smiled warmly back. He did catch Sev scowling darkly. "What are you doing here?"

"Besides giving us fleas?" Sev snapped bitterly but was ignored.

"We're here to take you to Headquarters," Moody replied.

"Headquarters?" HJ asked, confused. "Headquarters to what?"

"Dumbledore's secret little group," Sev told him as he hauled him up by the arm. "Don't let them fool you into thinking it's anything spectacular. It's a ragtag little army that will probably have you dead within the year."

"Is that really necessary?" Remus asked, already frustrated with the other man. They'd had a similar encounter in HJ's third year when they had been in the same room for the first time in twenty years. It had been awkward to say the least. Not that Severus had done anything to make the experience any less uncomfortable.

Severus merely raised an eyebrow at the werewolf letting him know that it was necessary.

"Why do I have to go?" the teen asked, interrupting a silent argument between the two men. He wondered if the remaining Marauders and his guardian would ever be civil towards each other. He really doubted it. Sev was very bitter over his lost chance for an education and future and no one had the gall to blame him for leaving the situation at Hogwarts as quickly as he could.

Knowing that fact only made HJ like Sev even more than he already did. The man was tough as nails, didn't except much defeat, and had a capacity to forgive beyond understanding. At least that was how HJ explained why Sev had taken him in when he needed a place to go. Underneath all his snarkiness, Sev was just a big softy.

"The Headmaster thinks it would be conducive to you safety," Remus replied. "Given the incident with the Dementors four days ago, Dumbledore wants you within reach of adult wizards who can help. Oh, and Severus will have to come as well."

"I have work," Sev said immediately. HJ wondered if they would even go. He had seen Sev stiffen at the implication that he couldn't keep his ward safe. It was sort of a nasty insult to someone like Sev, who prided himself on being able to survive despite everyone trying to break him down.

"You'll have to take time off," Moody told him, unsympathetic.

"It isn't that simple, Moody," Sev sneered at him. "No work, no pay. I have to work."

"I'm sure we can arrange for you to get to work," the lady cut in, clearly trying to ease tensions. HJ wondered what had been said while he'd still been asleep since they had never gotten this pissy with each other this quickly.

"Sev, we should go," HJ said quietly. "We have Muggle neighbors."

The man peered at the teen with narrowed eyes more than likely trying to determine if he could get away with saying 'no'. He knew however, that the kid wouldn't let him put anyone in danger, themselves included, because of his pride. The boy may have been prone to running into things head first but when it came to the people around him he had pathological need to keep them safe.

"Fine," he snarled doing his best to keep his dignity and somewhat irrational anger at the same time.

* * *

Sev hated Grimmauld Place. HJ could tell by the way his right eye would twitch slightly every time the portrait started to scream or Mrs. Weasley started to cry. HJ didn't like those things either but Sirius was here so it all balanced out to him. Despite the fact that he knew his long time guardian and best friend was thoroughly uncomfortable he hadn't quite expected him to snap.

HJ was sitting at the table in the kitchen eating his breakfast and challenging Ron to a rematch of the chess game they'd played the night before, when Sev came through the Floo holding safety glasses and a sledgehammer. Work gloves were tucked into the back pocket of his jeans. He spared no one a glance as they all stopped what they were doing and stared after the man as he left through the door and went up the steps to the first floor. HJ didn't think to follow until he heard the distinct sound of a sledgehammer meeting a wall and the shrieks of the portrait.

It was at this point that everyone jumped up and followed the man up the stairs. HJ came to the hallway just in time to see Sev slam the sledgehammer back into the wall surrounding Mrs. Black. Sirius and Remus both came hurrying down the stairs and froze in shock much like the crowd that had come from the kitchen.

Sev continued with what he was doing and soon enough was able to pull the drywall that the portrait had been spelled to completely away from the rest of the wall. It fell heavily and the shrieks were muffled as the woman's face met the floor. The wall itself now held a gaping a hole where the portrait had once been.

"Um, Sev?" HJ hedged and the man spared him a glance while removing the safety glasses. "What are you doing?"

"Home improvements," he stated bluntly and then pointed to the hole. "Some of the pipes in this house need repair. I figured this was as good a place to start as any."

"But don't you think you should have asked before you started making holes in the walls?" the boy continued looking pointedly at the slightly shocked ex-prisoner still on the stairs.

"No," Sev replied just as bluntly as before. "Now get dressed. You're helping me." With that the man walked off to his room to get the tools he'd brought with him on the off chance they were needed. They were certainly needed now.

* * *

Between the two of them they were able to get Grimmauld Place into a state that wasn't shambled. Pipes were replaced, drywall was redone with all unwanted decorations removed, and the roof was patched when it was discovered that the anti-leak charms weren't going to be enough. Mrs. Weasley put the rest of the teenagers to work cleaning with HJ and Sev coming in behind them to fix whatever needed to be fixed.

The Gryffindor was shocked to learn that after the initial project of removing Mrs. Black, Sirius had offered to pay Sev for whatever work he did. Sev accepted with much grumbling, unable to turn down money that could help pay the stack of bills they had. Sirius had also set the wages at a fair rate, dispelling the argument that he was trying to buy Sev's forgiveness. However, HJ would have never expected Sev to accept money from Sirius regardless of necessity or fairness.

"Did you really accept Sirius's money?" HJ asked one night as he laid on Sev's bed. The man was standing on the other side of the room, in front of the vanity rewrapping the cut he'd gotten from the battery powered drill. The thing had slipped and managed to give the dark haired man a deep cut right across the back of his left hand. HJ didn't think he'd seen anything more funny than Mrs. Weasley's face as the injured worker let loose a torrent of cuss words that he suspected most wizards wouldn't even know the meaning of.

"Yes," Sev replied shortly.

"Why?"

"It's good money."

"But you-" HJ started and then stopped, unsure of how he wanted to continue.

"Hate him?" the man finished glancing at the boy through the mirror. The Gryffindor just nodded. "Some things are more important than old grudges, HJ."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like you," the man replied, finally coming over to the bed, pulling back the covers, and getting in on one side. HJ shifted so that he was on his stomach, arms tightly wrapped around the pillow underneath him.

"You never take charity," HJ said softly.

"It wasn't charity," Sev replied. "He wanted to give you money for Hogwarts. I told him no so this was his solution." HJ made a small noise in the back of his throat. It made more sense now. Hogwarts was expensive and Sev insisted on putting him through it himself. The man wouldn't let his ward even think about touching the inheritance money until he was seventeen, and HJ had stopped asking knowing it to be a sensitive subject on many levels. He knew that Sirius wanted to be the Godfather he was supposed to be and helping pay for Hogwarts was a part of that. He also knew that Sev didn't have the heart to tell his old enemy that he couldn't try to be there for his Godson.

"Hey, Sev?" HJ asked as the man finally extinguished the light and prepared to fall asleep.

"What?"

"Do you think I can beat Voldemort?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," Sev replied without any sort of hesitation. "Want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you got me," he said. "And he isn't going to get the chance to hurt you."

"That's a big promise Sev," HJ said. It wasn't that he doubted that Sev would do everything he could to protect him-he always had-but he did doubt that his partially trained, drop-out guardian could win a duel with the Dark Lord.

"I can keep it," the man replied as he rolled over onto his side and placed a rough, calloused hand on the boy's back.

"How?" the boy asked taking off his glasses and setting them on the side table.

"Don't worry about it," Sev said.

"But Sev!" the boy whined, wanting to know and tired of being blown off.

"Don't whine at me," the man replied and begin to rub the boy's back. HJ knew the move well. Sev used to do that when he was little and fussy. It always made him fall asleep quickly. The man was trying to end the conversation by making his ward fall asleep. "Just trust me a little okay?"

"I trust you," HJ snapped, angry that anyone, including Sev, would doubt the trust he had in the man. He'd always trusted Sev and he'd never been disappointed, even in the hardest of times. Sev didn't make promises he couldn't keep.

"Good," his guardian replied, continuing to rub the boy's bare back. "Are you staying in here tonight?"

"Mm, hm," the boy hummed, eyes closed and near sleep. The man continued to rub the boy's back until he fell into a deep sleep. He never even felt the covers being drawn up over his shoulders and his hair being mussed softly as Sev ran his hand over the boy's head before settling into sleep himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Severus woke up at an insanely early hour. It wasn't that he was well rested, or even that it was a normal time for him to wake up. No, he woke up because he was cold. HJ had stolen all the covers and even though it was summer, the nights were cool in the drafty old home. He reached over and carefully pried the boy's fingers from the blankets and evened them out between them. The kid stirred, mumbled, and rolled over putting his back to Severus. The man put a hand on the boy's back and rubbed it until HJ settled down again.

The man smiled softly at how easily the old trick still worked. The boy had always been the most fussy in the dead of night. It seemed to be the time his nightmares came; when he was the most vulnerable. He was amazed at how easily it came; the worry, the need to protect, and most importantly, the need to love and be loved.

He had been working at the shipyard, just like he had since he was fifteen, when his mother had told him that Mr. Evans had passed. That had made him think of Lily and then of her son. He knew the boy was probably having a hard time of it in Petunia's house. He remembered her being quite the jealous twit and he doubted that big green eyes made it any better.

It had taken him four months to work up the courage to knock on Petunia's front door. She'd been exactly as he remembered and he had been exactly as she remembered. That was probably the reason she had sneered so nastily. He was used to those sneers though; he'd gotten plenty of them from the Marauders. He'd been surprised by just how much the little boy looked like James. But he was more concerned with the shadow of a bruise that graced the boy's left cheek. It wasn't nasty enough to be from a punch. At most it was from a hard slap. He'd seen injuries like that before in Spinner's End, a neighborhood that was no stranger to slaps across the face.

He'd offered to take the boy with him, just for a little while. Petunia had said the family was getting ready to go on a trip but didn't have a sitter. He'd offered to keep the boy for two weeks while they did what they wanted. The kid had been a toddler then, just three years old. She'd gladly accepted.

The two weeks had gone quietly-and quickly-enough. He'd only meant for it to be a onetime occurrence, this whole babysitting thing, but the woman kept calling and he could hardly tell her no. The last thing he wanted to do was make life any harder on the little kid, and the boy seemed happy enough to be there. Severus wasn't all that good with babysitting. He had to leave the kid alone while he went to work but nobody ever found out and the boy never said anything about it. Not that Severus expected him to know how to. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for him to come home to the little boy looking through the books piled in his flat.

The man started reading to him. Little Harry loved it; he loved the attention and the little routine. Every night at six Severus would walk through the door with that night's dinner (he was saving up for a refrigerator), they would eat, and then Severus would take him down to the communal bathroom for their floor to get ready for bed. Once back in the flat Severus would read to him until the kid fell asleep.

Severus found that he liked the routine as much as Harry did. He and the kid became pretty close; close enough that Severus learned to recognize the fact that the kid didn't want to leave his flat for the Durselys. However, it wasn't until the boy had already started school at the age of six that he decided that it wasn't the material things that mattered to the little boy, it was him. Harry had a terrible life at Petunia's, he knew that and had ignored it for years, but at least the boy seemed to like being with him even though Severus would never be able to give him the world. He didn't have any money to his name or a house that was worth living in.

At six years old, Harry had made it a point to come visit him one day to ask a favor. Severus thought it rather brave of him, to ask the question. He'd asked the man to come to Parent's Day. Severus had agreed even though he had never truly considered himself to be the boy's father, or even want to be. Harry had a father, even if he couldn't be there.

The kid had gone home with him after school that day. He was only supposed to stay through dinner, but he had convinced Severus to let him stay the night and then he'd never left. Three days later Severus lost his job when the shipyard laid off hundreds of men. The two of them spent the next six months in the homeless shelter. It took that long for Severus to find a job and get them back on their feet. At night, when Harry curled up beside him on the cot he felt worse than he ever had before.

Doubt and guilt would creep in as he stared up at the ceiling until late in the night. He refused to fall asleep until the drunkards settled down, scared they may make a move while he slept. Who did he think he was, keeping the little kid with him? He'd be better off in an orphanage. Between his sweet disposition and big green eyes he'd be adopted in a week. Probably by someone worth something more than Severus was. He'd strongly considered leaving the kid behind in a church somewhere in the city. But the boy looked too much like James Potter and James Potter deserved a little humility, even if he had to learn it through his son.

He started drinking and nightmares from his time in Hogwarts started coming back again. He would wake up to little Harry patting his muscled shoulder with his small hand, trying to offer comfort. It all made him drink even more. He didn't snap at of it until his pride reasserted itself, along with his self-respect.

By that time the neighborhood kids were calling Harry, Magic Hands HJ, in homage to the card tricks he performed for spare coins. Severus found it highly ironic, and the kid found it funny. It was the only way he would get recognition of his heritage in the Muggle World and he loved it. The two of them had been in the park, HJ lying on the park bench and Severus reading a library book, his own books long gone.

He'd been torn from the pages when he felt the jeans HJ was resting his head on become moist. The kid was crying.

"Why are you crying?" he asked, curious and more than a little worried.

"My head hurts," HJ mumbled. "Really bad." Severus felt the boy's forehead to feel a slight fever.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked trying to remember the last time he'd given the kid anything. He couldn't remember; he'd been too drunk.

"Friday," he whimpered. "At school." Severus didn't reply; he had nothing to say and would have nothing to say to that. How could anyone have ever have something to say to that? The kid-the kid he was supposed to be taking care of-hadn't eaten since Friday. Today was Sunday. Who did he think he was, torturing this kid like that?

He should have become a Death Eater. Then he'd be in Azkaban or dead. Both were fates he deserved.

* * *

HJ's breathing became rapid and deep around three a.m. It woke Severus up from his own fitful sleep. It was Voldemort, Severus was sure of it. The kid had been having nightmares about the monster ever since last summer. The man suspected it had something to do with the scar, some sort of connection between their minds. He didn't understand really what it could be. He'd never finished Hogwarts after all.

There were no more problems for the rest of that night and come morning the teen seemed perfectly rested. Well, at least one of them was.

"Sev!" HJ exclaimed, frustrated that the man wasn't up and moving. The man groaned, really not wanting to move, much less wake up. "It's court day!"

"I didn't do it," the man mumbled and rolled away from the irritant at his side. He heard the kid huff and felt him move away. HJ moved about the room, purposefully being as loud as he could to wake the man up. It didn't work, however, and Severus was soon in as a deep of a sleep as he usually was.

HJ just shook his head at his guardian and left the room for breakfast and court. He made it down to the kitchen and Mrs. Weasley smiled at him softly. He attempted to return it but didn't much succeed. He was too anxious.

"Where is Severus?" she asked.

"Sleeping," HJ replied simply.

"Do you want anything for breakfast dear?" she asked and he nodded.

"Can I have some toast?" he asked knowing his stomach couldn't handle a big breakfast with this many nerves. She smiled again and got up to get it for him. The teen sat next to Tonks who also smiled at him.

"Wotcher Harry," she said. He lifted his chin to her in acknowledgement and then got busy on his coffee, which he needed.

"When will Severus be awake?" Mr. Weasley asked. HJ shrugged.

"I donna know," he mumbled. He completely missed the man's raised eyebrows.

"Isn't he going with you to the hearing?" Mrs. Weasley asked, some concern leaking into her voice. HJ shrugged again.

"I don't know," he replied much more clearly this time and this time he did catch the concern as the two parents sent each other _looks_. He didn't know what they meant but he didn't like them. "If he wakes up in time he'll probably come. But it's not like his being there will do anything."

"You don't want him there for support?" Mrs. Weasley asked softly as she set a small stack of toast in front of him.

"Support for what?"

"You know," Tonks said, inserting herself into the conversation. "For moral support and all that." The teen just gave them a funny look. Severus had never been particularly good at moral support and he could honestly care less if the man was at the hearing or not. He actually preferred not. Severus would probably end up embarrassing him and it wasn't as if he couldn't handle himself.

"I'll be fine on my own," he told them firmly and went back to toast and coffee. He again missed Mrs. Weasley's look of complete disapproval.

* * *

While the hearing had been more of circus than HJ had expected he ended up with the result he wanted. His charges were dropped, Fudge made himself look like an idiot, and he walked away feeling better than ever. So what if the man didn't believe him about Voldemort? HJ knew he was right and that in the end he would still be right and Fudge would still be a moron. And probably unemployed.

"Who's the man?" he shouted as he burst into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, flexing his muscles and grinning like a madman.

"Did you get off?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"Of course," HJ replied and the two hugged. The teen happily received hugs and congratulations from everyone in the room, his teeth nearly chattering he was so excited at being able to go back to Hogwarts. Once he pulled away from Sirius and straightened his hair (well, attempted) from all the ruffling, he finally noticed his missing guardian. "Where's Severus?"

"Working on the pipes in the third floor bathroom," Remus told him and the teen immediately went to give him the good news.

"Sev, Sev, Sev!" he called when he neared the door. He found the man bent over the sink, attaching the new faucet he'd bought. The other ones were too old and rusted out to be saved. "I got off."

Sev laughed right along with him and HJ accepted his hug and small kiss to the head.

"Good boy," he said. "Now hand me that wrench. The shower head needs to be worked on." And just like that they were back to work.

* * *

Mrs. Weasley disapproved of Severus. HJ knew that now even if he couldn't understand _why_. In his own opinion, Severus was awesome. He was tough, never backed down from a fight, he could go three days without food, and he's promised to take him to get a tattoo for his sixteenth birthday. What more could HJ want? Hell, what more did he need?

"Harry, sweetheart," Mrs. Weasley said. "We were thinking about going home to the Burrow for Christmas. Would you like to join us?"

"What about Sev?" the teen asked immediately, not wanting to leave the man alone on Christmas.

"Oh, I thought he was planning on staying here in London," she replied.

"I'd have to see what his plans are," the boy told her, giving her neither a yes nor a no. He wasn't blind. The woman had been repeatedly giving Severus a harder and harder time since the court day. Severus had called her out on it after the third day, demanding to know what the hell she thought her problem was. She had just looked offended and walked away.

The boy knew from the first night when she'd fought with Sirius about giving him information that she thought she knew best when it came to his upbringing. That or she thought she knew best when it came to kids in general, whether they were him or someone else. HJ appreciated her concern but not her methods of expressing it. And he certainly didn't appreciate her trying to spirit him away for the holidays. It was as if she thought he and Sev didn't have their own traditions and all.

The entire situation came to its crux the morning before they were due back at Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley wanted to know if Severus was planning on taking him to the station. She had never seen him there before and she was starting to suspect that it wasn't because the man had been hidden by large crowds or some such. She believed he'd just never bothered to show up.

"Is Severus coming with us to the station?" she asked the dark haired boy as he gobbled down cereal and helped Sirius finish a crossword in the muggle paper he'd stolen from the neighbors.

"If he can," the boy shrugged unconcerned.

"Hmph," Mrs. Weasley replied and the sound tore the teen's eyes from his crossword.

"Is that alright with you Mrs. Weasley?" HJ asked, his voice quiet and smooth and unlike anything any one of them had ever heard from him before. Sirius looked up as well, his eyes wide with surprise.

"I just thought he would be there for you, that's all," the woman told him sounding just as unconcerned as HJ had moments before.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the boy asked, eyes narrowed at the silent challenge to his guardian's good name.

"I just think he should be there for you," she said.

"Molly," Mr. Weasley started but HJ didn't let him finish.

"It's none of your business," the boy said.

"I'm concerned about you Harry," she said and he could tell that she honestly was but he still didn't appreciate what she was trying to say.

"I understand that," he said and let his spoon drop back down into the bowl. "I'm fine."

"I don't think that you are," she said. "I think you would be better off with a different guardian." The entire kitchen went dead silent at that. Everyone knew that she didn't really like the fact that Severus was looking after Harry especially after she'd heard some of the boy's stories. In her opinion the boy should have been taken away a long time ago. Raising a child in the streets of Muggle London was just an offense that couldn't be forgiven. But despite everyone knowing this, no one had quite expected her to actually say it aloud and certainly not directly to the boy.

"You don't know anything about my situation," he told her coldly. The woman's children weren't sure how to react. But then again, no one was too sure how to react.

"I know enough," she replied and then glared at Sirius. "And you! I'm surprised at you, letting the boy run around in the streets and get into trouble."

"He's fine, Molly," Sirius said, his voice just as cold as HJ's had been. "Severus is good to him."

"Severus can barely feed himself," she said. "And I doubt that he has ever supported the poor boy in anything. He needs someone who would be there for him."

"ENOUGH!" HJ shouted, his fists slamming onto the table and his chair toppling to the floor as he leapt up. "You don't know anything about him! You don't know anything about what he's given up for me and you don't know anything about what we've been through together."

The entire kitchen sat in silence. Hearing Mrs. Weasley shout in anger was one thing, hearing HJ shout in anger was quite another. Nobody had ever really seen his full temper and if he had been a full grown man many of them would have shrunk back even more than already had.

"I'm just trying to support you Harry," the woman continued but the boy just glared.

"Well stop," he snapped. "I know you don't understand the way we live but it's how the cards were dealt and you have no right to judge _my_ guardian over anything. He's my best friend and he's done more for me than you ever could so just shut up!"

"Harry-"

"No!" he interrupted. "You don't get to talk about it like you know anything. You don't know anything! Leave him alone!"

"This isn't about Severus," she started again and again he interrupted her.

"Yes it is," he shouted. "You've been on his case since the hearing and I'm sick of it. Stick your nose out of our business, bitch." The room gasped and widened their eyes at the name. Sirius and Remus both stood to take him out of the kitchen before it could go any further but HJ wasn't aware of them and he resisted them in their efforts to forcibly drag him from the room. The teen was too angry and too protective.

"I hate you!" he shouted. "Don't ever talk about him again!" The teen then began to repeat every cuss word he'd ever heard as he fought to remain in the room to continue his tirade. But Remus was too strong and he was eventually able to remove him from the room which fell into a horrible silence.

They heard the boy shout as he was taken up the stairs and to what sounded like Severus's room.

* * *

Severus was unconcerned with Mrs. Weasley and her objections to his guardianship over the boy. He may have thought the same things once but that had been years ago. He was sober now and had steady work and even a refrigerator. They were doing okay for themselves. He liked to think that the kid was healthy and happy and he'd honestly never been told otherwise.

Not even Sirius had managed to object to the situation. HJ had made _that_ perfectly clear to the escaped convict. He would not tolerate criticism of the man. The kid was currently laying on the man's bed still visibly upset over what had happened that morning. His godfather and friend had long since departed.

"HJ," the man whispered into the boy's ear as he sat down next to him on the bed and leaned in close.

"What?" the boy whispered back his nose twitching when Severus's breath tickled it.

"You need to get up," the man replied. The kid didn't respond. He didn't want to get up; he didn't want to face anyone; he wanted to stay in here for the rest of the day and do nothing. He wanted to go home to their small flat with its lumpy couch and noisy fridge that Sev was always so proud of.

Getting no response the man rubbed the small teen's cheek with a calloused thumb. The kid leaned into the touch but otherwise didn't respond.

"Do you want to go home?" the man asked, just as quietly as before.

"Yeah," HJ replied. "But I leave for Hogwarts tomorrow. There's no use."

"Hmm," was all the older one said in response.

"I'm sorry I called her those things," HJ said wondering if he'd be in trouble for the things he'd shouted out in complete anger. "I just got so mad."

"I know," the man replied. "I remember once when I cracked a man over the head with a beer bottle because he started talking about you. Do you remember?"

"Yeah," the boy answered with a small laugh and an even smaller smile. He remembered that. Severus had been forced to spend the night in jail leaving HJ to spend the night on old lady Jenner's couch. He had only been seven and he'd been terrified that they were going to lock Sev up forever and he would never get to see him again. When the man had shown up again the next morning HJ had latched onto him and refused to let go for upwards of two hours. He'd even started bawling when the man had tried to peel him off so he could use the bathroom.

"It's okay to be protective over the people you love and care about," the man continued drawing the teen from the memory. "But try not to shout and rave at the woman again. She honestly does care about you and she said what she said because where she comes from children are always fed and clothed and aren't told about hard times."

"Sounds like a fairy tale," the kid said.

"It is," Severus said quietly and stood back up before the boy could catch his sad look and call him out on it. Severus didn't have the heart or the backbone to tell the boy that Mrs. Weasley had been partially right when it came to raising kids. HJ deserved more than he had and Severus knew it. He just couldn't seem to make it happen though. He didn't think there was enough Magic in the world to fix all of their problems and they had plenty.

He just hoped that one day when HJ opened his eyes and stopped treating their situation like some adventure he'd read about in a book that the boy wouldn't completely resent him. There was no doubt in his mind that the teen would grow up to realize that the way he'd grown up had been appalling on several occasions and that however unsubtle Mrs. Weasley had been, she had a valid point. But Severus had a few more years before that would likely occur and he pushed it out of mind. Just like he did with mostly everything else.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone! Hopefully this answers some more questions about what happened to Severus and fills in some of the plot holes a lot of you have been catching :)~ This chapter has a lot of information in it. I'm slowly trying to build up a genuine friendship between the four characters in this chapter. Let me know how I'm doing! Thanks and enjoy!

* * *

Three weeks after the kid had left for Hogwarts Severus found himself in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place enjoying a cup of strong tea and thoroughly ignoring the Weasley matriarch. While Severus was wholly unconcerned as to her opinion of his guardianship, she didn't seem inclined to let the matter drop. It probably didn't help that she'd found a bottle of alcohol in his room. What she had been doing in there he had never asked. It was pretty clear in his own opinion. She was snooping on the guise of helping the hapless bachelor with his laundry.

The two of them had since lapsed into a strange sort of competition. The prize? HJ. As the prize in wizarding competitions usually was these days. The boy was like the coveted flank of meat thrown into a cage full of starving dogs.

"Hello Severus," Lupin greeted, tearing Severus from his thoughts. While old wounds would never truly heal and he would never forget what they had done to him, he was man enough to admit that the hardships in his life were mostly his own fault. And with that admission-even though it was just to himself-he was able to put aside their teenage years enough to get along with the Marauders. In fact, he found them to be a nice ally against Mrs. Weasley's ever insistent nagging.

"Hn," he grunted in reply. Lupin didn't seem to expect anything else from him so early on a Saturday morning and simply unfolded the newspaper and disappeared behind it. Black hobbled in a few minutes later and dropped into a chair next to Severus.

"Never again," the escaped convict said, rubbing at his temples in an attempt to get rid of the enormous headache Severus was sure he had. The often wayward man had pulled out his last bottle of whiskey the night before and the two had indulged themselves in the third floor drawing room. Severus had vague memories of a disapproving Lupin and a can of spray paint coming into contact with the Black Family Tree. He made a note to himself to check it out and make sure they hadn't done _too_ much damage.

And while Severus was more than capable of holding his liquor, Black hadn't had an opportunity to truly drink in nearly fifteen years. He might as well have been a hardcore Mormon taking his first sip of beer for how quickly he got drunk. Severus cursed himself for not having the foresight to procure a camera.

"Going to stop drinking, are you?" Lupin inquired sardonically, still hidden behind the paper.

"God no, I'm going to stop waking up," Black replied and then turned his bleary eyed look to the ex-Slytherin. "Aren't you feeling anything?"

"I can hold my liquor," he replied and continued his tea.

"How often do you binge drink?" Mrs. Weasley asked, finally piping up. Severus had wondered when she'd make her disapproval known.

"I may not be completely dry, Molly, but I do not have a problem," he told her truthfully. "Not anymore."

"You had a drinking problem?" Lupin asked, curious. Information about what had happened to Severus after he'd inexplicably fled Hogwarts was hard to come by. They had never found out the truth.

"I did," he admitted, both unashamed and unconcerned about their reactions. He had long suppressed himself from ever hoping to gain anyone's approval. The approval he needed, he already had. "For awhile. I sobered up six years ago."

"Why were you drinking?" Black asked. "Ow!" He flinched violently when Lupin's sharp kick landed on his shin for asking such a personal question. Severus smirked.

"It's alright Lupin," he replied softly. "I don't mind." And he truly didn't. Maybe once upon a time he would have but here, in this shabby, decrepit home sitting between an Azkaban escapee and a werewolf, all semblance of guilt and shame was free to leave him. It no longer mattered that he had a past with these men. All three of them were no longer the schoolboys of Hogwarts; each had seen and done things that would send most into fits of despair and anguish. By the mere fact that they had survived their own separate hells, they had each earned some sort right to brotherhood.

"Then why were you drinking?" Black asked again, hangover completely forgotten. Well, as long as he didn't move his head.

"I had a lot to forget," Severus told him with a pointed look that made Black look even more uncomfortable than he already was.

"You were trying to forget Hogwarts," Lupin said softly. Severus was aware of the fact that Mrs. Weasley was listening from her spot at the end of the table no matter how intensely she looked at the pages of the book in front of her. The absolute stillness of her eyes gave her away. She was listening; he wanted her to hear.

"Yes and no," he replied. "It may surprise you, but my world didn't revolve around Hogwarts and the Marauders."

"Then why did you leave?" Black asked. "I know we were pricks but I didn't think we were _that_ bad."

"The bullying I endured at your hands was only a part of the reason I left," Severus answered. "Do you believe in moments?"

"Moments?" Lupin asked.

"Yes, a moment and the choice you make in that moment and how those choices can change everything."

"I suppose," Lupin responded and Black nodded hesitantly. "Why?"

"I was being recruited," Severus said.

"By Voldemort?" Black asked incredulously, eyebrows shooting up. Severus nodded.

"Not by him personally though. I was a Potions prodigy," he boosted. "At least, that was what everyone said. Some of my old Housemates had spread rumors of my talents and it didn't take long for some of the Death Eaters to come sniffing around, asking for Potions, for _favors_.

"They thought I would just brew them whatever poisons and cursed potions they asked for. As the offspring of a shamed Pureblood, it was expected of me. They figured that because I was in Slytherin and had certain friends that I would be willing to do anything to clear myself of my Mother's so-called mistake."

"What was her mistake?" Black asked, looking sympathetic. This was a part of the story he could probably sympathize the most with.

"My father," Severus replied. The two remaining Marauders looked at him curiously. "He was a Muggle. Mum met him when she ran away from home at sixteen. He found her wandering around Muggle London looking about as lost and scared as any Pureblood could be. He helped her out; took her to stay with an ex-girlfriend of his so she wouldn't have to sleep in the street. They started dating a little bit later.

"He swept her off her feet with stories of the Muggle world and she told him about the Wizarding world and about who she was. They made grand plans together. To travel the world, do everything they'd ever wanted to do. You know, normal daydreams."

"What happened?" Lupin asked, a soft smile gracing his face at the sweet story of two young lovers from two completely different worlds.

"She got pregnant," Severus replied. "With me and my brother."

"You have a brother?" Black squawked in complete surprise.

"Yes," the other dark haired man replied and then used his right hand to stretch down the collar of his black wife beater to show them the tattoo just above his heart. It was a name written in an elegant cursive font.

_Heath_.

"My twin," he said. "He was taken when I was seven."

"Taken?" Lupin asked, confused.

"By a predator," Severus said, refusing to look them in the eye. "They preyed on children in Spinner's End back then. We were easier targets, you see. He was missing for six months until his body washed up from the creek."

"I'm sorry," Black whispered and Lupin seemed too overcome to say anything.

"Thank you," he replied, taking a sip of his tea in order to wash away the lump that had formed in the back of his throat.

"Did they ever catch who did it?" Black asked but Severus shook his head.

"No," he replied. "At least, not legally. Everyone knew who it was, of course. He owned half the neighborhood. Ruled over us like a king. A crowd down at the pub got a little too drunk one night and decided they weren't going to wait around for the police to do something anymore. They went to his home and set it on fire. He had taken medication and didn't wake up in time to save himself."

"He deserved it," Black said, finally noticing that he had his own cup of tea and took a long drink of it, nearly burning his tongue off in the process. His ridiculous expression made Severus chuckle and expelled some of the heaviness that had descended on them.

"How did we get on this subject?" Severus asked, perfectly aware of how it happened but wanting to change the course of the conversation to a direction that was less likely to make him want to sob.

"I don't know," Lupin acquiesced. "You were saying that you were being recruited?"

"Yes," Severus replied, happy to be talking about that instead. "I held up against the pressure pretty well all things considered but I eventually broke down and brewed them what they wanted."

"How long were you brewing them things?" Black asked more than a little aware of the fortitude it took to stand up to Purebloods on a mission.

"Not for long," the other man replied. "I only brewed them two things. A cursed potion and a poison. I was in the perfect position to sabotage them, so I did."

"You sabotaged your own potions?" Lupin asked, surprised. "Why?"

"I didn't like that I was being pushed into a corner and so I rebelled in the only way I could," Severus told them. "I weakened the poison and rendered the curse faulty so that it would wear off with little damage. The show would be enough to fool them and they would probably figure that the Healers were better at their jobs than anyone had anticipated."

"Smart," Black congratulated.

"Slytherin," Severus replied with a nod. "Unfortunately the poison I made was given to an Auror who had already been suffering from injuries gained in battle. Her body wasn't able to fight off even the weakened version and she...died." His voice had dropped by this point and again he wasn't looking at anyone. He knew, of course, that her death had been a horrible one as it was designed to be. If she had been in perfect health when that poison had entered her system she would still be alive today. "She was a single mother with three children. The oldest was only nine at the time."

Nobody spoke, there was nothing they could say to such a sudden and horrible admission. To be responsible of killing a mother and orphaning her children when you were only a child yourself was a horrible thing to live with. He had never seen the woman outside of a single picture in the Daily Prophet but her face haunted his dreams.

"It was months before I could even look at a cauldron without feeling sick," he confided, unsure if he should continue with his story but unable to stop now that he had started. He had never told anyone this before, not even Lily. "I never brewed again."

"Is that why you never pursued your Potions Mastery through an independent study?" Lupin asked and Severus could tell that things were starting to make more sense to him. He nodded.

"Yes," he said. "I informed my Death Eater contact that I would not be brewing anything for them ever again. He responded quite nastily. My House turned on me and I was forced to leave Hogwarts. I was scared for my life. There was nothing anyone could do for me and I used the excuse of our feud as a cover for leaving. I figured that the more guilty Dumbledore felt about allowing vicious bullies to run wild in his school the less likely he was to investigate my true reasons for leaving. Even with all the guilt I carried for murdering that poor woman, I didn't want to go Azkaban."

"So why tell us?" Black asked. "Why come clean now?"

"Who's going to report me?" Severus told him with a smirk. "The escaped convict? The werewolf? The eavesdropping housewife who would ruin her husband's career by admitting she was in the vicinity of such illicit activity as the Order of the Phoenix?"

Despite the sarcasm, he had a completely valid point. Mrs. Weasley even broke pretense to glare at him before returning her eyes to her book.

"But why not just transfer to another school?" Black asked, scratching at his head. "Why not study for your OWLs independently? They let people do that you know."

"True," Severus said. "But those exceptions only apply to someone with health issues or with enough money to hire private tutors. I fit into neither category and my petition for a special circumstances exception was denied by the Testing Board. My rejection of the Death Eaters had ruffled my contact's feathers and, unfortunately, he was a powerful man. I was forced to officially abandon my Magical training and my wand was snapped."

"I thought they only snapped your wand if you were expelled," Lupin exclaimed and Black looked equally surprised. Severus just shook his head.

"No," he told them. "You are only allowed to have a wand if you are currently being trained or have a certificate of completion either from a certified school or the Ministry itself. Hogwarts was no longer an option, I could not afford the international tuition rates of the other schools, and the Ministry wasn't going to allow me to complete my training either."

"What did you do?" Lupin asked, sounding sad at how the cards been stacked against him, much like they were for a werewolf. Lupin had been extremely lucky that Dumbledore had held a soft spot for his father and was willing to take a chance on him being in Hogwarts. His was a rare occurrence.

"I went home to the Muggle world," Severus replied, refilling the tea in his chipped mug. It was his favorite and he'd brought it with him. It was one of those mugs kids decorated for fun. HJ had made it in school and had given it to him one year for Christmas. It had been the only present he'd gotten that year.

"I worked," he continued, sitting back down. "Saved some money, got my own place, and started living my life. I returned every now and then, to the Wizarding World. I would go with Lily to Diagon Alley when she needed new school supplies and such."

"Did the Death Eaters ever try to contact you again?" Lupin asked. Severus nodded.

"Yes they did," he said. "Lucius tried to convince me on several occasions to come back and join them. He was concerned for me and thought that he could save my life by helping me find the 'proper' path." Black scowled horribly at that.

"What did you say?" Black asked, a growling sort tone coming through as his dog half reared its head.

"To f**k off," Severus replied smoothly and watched as Lupin nearly choked on his own tea. Black let out a howl of laughter and Mrs. Weasley's ears turned pink.

"Ho!" Black laughed. "I bet Malfoy wasn't too happy about that!"

"No he was not," Severus said with his own amused smirk. "Our friendship disintegrated and we never spoke again. Though, I suspect he regrets it."

"Why would Malfoy regret it?" Lupin asked.

"Because I did everything he couldn't," Severus told them. "I lived my own life. Even though it was hard a life it was mine. He lived the life that his parents chose for him. Lucius had dreams once too; he wanted to travel and explore. He didn't want to live a life of cloaks and daggers, but he was never brave enough to break away and do what he wanted. His father would have cut him off and Lucius didn't want to lose his inheritance."

"So he gave up his own dreams for money?" Lupin asked.

"Yes, he did," he said. "And he's teaching his own son to do the same. Even if it's only unconsciously."

"That is the pureblood way," Black said, trying to sound insightful and failing horribly. Lupin rolled his eyes. Severus quickly followed suit.

"So why not get some sort of Muggle education?" Lupin asked.

"Again, no money," Severus told him. "My mother fell ill and I was forced to work to help my family survive. Besides, by then the last thing I wanted to do was study a book. I was sick and tired of having to work and fight for everything I had. For the first time in my life the only thing I wanted to do was have some fun."

"And did you?" Severus was surprised to hear Mrs. Weasley finally speak up fully. He nodded.

"Yes," he replied. "I did have fun. But by the time I realized that fun wasn't all it was cracked it up to be, my path was pretty much set and there weren't many options left for my future."

"So you went to work?" Black asked.

"Yes," Severus replied. "I had been working since I'd left Hogwarts but never like this. I worked three jobs and never stopped to take a break. It helped my family out tremendously and it kept my mind off of things. Things I didn't want to confront."

"Like the Auror," Mrs. Weasley said softly and for the first time in months she spoke to him without some sort of sneer or judgmental tone. Severus nodded in her direction. "And what about Harry? How does he fit into all of this?"

"Despite what you may think Molly," Severus said. "HJ is perfectly fine. He may not have a lot and he may not have had a perfect childhood but he's fine. Everything I went through, everything he went through, and everything we went through together has only made him a stronger person."

"Severus I've been meaning ask to you something," Black hedged, looking as if he was ready to blurt out whatever it was at any second. His control didn't last very long. "Why don't you use the money in Harry's trust fund to pay for Hogwarts?"

"I don't need Potter's money," Severus snapped, already feeling the first spikes of anger.

"Harry is a Potter," Lupin replied smoothly. "His parents left him that fund specifically to pay for Hogwarts."

"Well, that's all well and good," Severus said, snarkily. "But even if I wanted to touch the fund we don't have access to it."

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"The key to the vault is gone," Severus replied. "I don't have it and neither does HJ."

"Then who has it?" Black asked, suddenly concerned. Severus just looked at him and didn't reply. "Who has the key?" This time it was much more forceful and Severus wasn't able to not tell Black. He didn't have much of a reason to keep it all a secret anyway.

"I, uh, traded it," the man mumbled uncomfortably.

"_Traded_ it?" Lupin asked, jumping in before Black could explode without an explanation. "Traded it for what?"

"For HJ," Severus told them.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Black asked.

"Oh come on Black!" Severus exclaimed throwing his hands up in frustration. "You've met Petunia. I know you did; at the wedding. Did you honestly think that that little twit was going to let go of a payday that big? The only way that she would sign over the guardianship was if I left her the entire fortune. They'd already been bleeding it for five years and they weren't about to let go of it.

"Face it! The Potter fortune is gone. The wizarding assets were liquidated and everything was transferred to a Muggle bank. The gold, the houses, the heirlooms, they're all gone!"

"You let those Muggles take everything?" Black snapped, clearly not understanding that what he had done hadn't been some sort of horrible deal gone wrong. It had been a ransom.

"I had to," Severus replied. "And you would have too. That house was horrible for Harry. I had no choice."

"So how have you been paying for Hogwarts?" Black asked.

"None of your business," he snapped not liking the direction this conversation had headed.

"Oh come off it Snape!" Black snapped back, matching his tone. "I know for a fact that Harry isn't on some sort of scholarship and that if you really are as poor as you _claim_ to be, you would never be able to pay for it out of pocket. You're lying about something. What is it? How are you paying for Hogwarts?" All three of them were staring at him intensely. He knew he shouldn't have opened up this line of conversation. He knew it would only put him in the spotlight.

"Alright fine!" Severus said, giving in with a put out sigh. "I may not have given Petunia _everything_."

"What do you mean?" Black asked.

"I may have stolen some of the money."

"How much?" Lupin asked.

"Three galleons."

"Oh come off it!" Black snapped, looking angrier than Severus had seen him for a long time. "Three galleons barely buys a couple of textbooks. Where is the money coming from?"

"I just told you," Severus said and then held up a hand to silence everyone before they could jump again. "I pulled a Cunningham."

"What is a 'Cunningham'?" Lupin asked, his look of pure confusion almost an exact replica of the other two expressions being directed at Severus.

"It's an old Muggleborn con from back in the thirties," Severus told him. "Back during the Great Slump a Muggleborn took some galleons and sold them in the Muggle world as ancient artifacts. It was how he paid for Hogwarts back then since the Wizarding World hadn't felt the effects of the depression and the Purebloods weren't about to help anyone out."

"How do you 'sell' a Galleon?" Black asked. "It's not worth that much in Muggle currency."

"Not if you go through the Goblins," Severus told him. "But the Muggle World doesn't have Goblins and to them a galleon is an ancient monetary coin from a lost civilization. If I sell the galleon in the Muggle World I can sell it for thousand times its actual worth. I sold three galleons and walked away with one hundred and fifty thousand quid. More than enough to pay for Hogwarts. Petunia never noticed and Potter technically still managed to pay for his son's education."

They all just stared at him. What he had done had been highly illegal but at the time it was the only option Severus could take. He had known exactly what that money was for when he had given it all to Petunia and it had killed him to think that HJ may have to struggle through Hogwarts. There was no amount of work that Severus could do to put him through on his own. The Weasleys may have also been strapped for extra money but even they were better off than he was.

When you lived in the Wizarding World there were no such things as electricity, gas, and water bills. Wizards didn't know how to use two of those things and the third was a basic spell that all homeowners would know. But Severus didn't have those luxuries and he had to find some way to pay off debts and keep their home.

And HJ could not be on a scholarship. The names of Hogwarts' scholarship recipients were in the public domain. If the Boy-Who-Lived's name was found on the list it could have quickly snowballed into a horrible scandal. Severus couldn't subject HJ to that at such a young age and after waiting so long to finally get to Hogwarts. And he was too proud to ask Dumbledore to forge documents.

Looking at the faces around him he felt half insulted and half satisfied.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a somewhat mocking tone. "I may not have finished Hogwarts but let's not forget which House I was in."

"I just can't believe you even thought of such a plan," Lupin said and Severus was pleased to note there was very little disapproval in the werewolf's tone. "Even if it's illegal, it is genius."

"Who are you?" Black asked his friend with yet another confused look on his face though this was more sarcastic than genuine. "You hate breaking rules."

"Not when it's necessary," Lupin countered. "Severus may have done so illegally but he did save Harry's school fund."

"I didn't particularly come up with that plan all on my own," the other man said, interrupting the two old friends. "Alexander Cunningham did in 1931. A sneakier Hufflepuff the world never saw."

"He was a Hufflepuff?" Black asked thoroughly surprised.

"Yes he was," Severus said. "You'd be surprised at what desperate people will do. The only difference between him and a true Slytherin was that Cunningham never kept more than he needed. Whatever he had leftover went to other struggling Muggleborns. Today they even have a scholarship named after him."

"The Cunningham Muggleborn Scholarship!" Lupin exclaimed thoroughly pleased with himself for knowing such trivia. "Lily won that scholarship one year for that brilliant essay she did about the Patronus Charm. You remember that Sirius."

"No I don't," Black replied but Remus didn't hear him.

"It's a very prestigious award amongst the Muggleborns," Severus told them. "It's only available for NEWT students who express a deep understanding of their chosen field. The contestants are also required to do extensive community service in the Muggle World."

"I've never heard of it," Mrs. Weasley said, sounding a little ashamed for having missed it, especially when her family had long been known for being extremely accepting of Muggleborns.

"Most Purebloods haven't," Severus acquiesced. "No matter what their personal thoughts towards Muggleborns. The awards ceremony is only open to Muggleborns and their families. It's how the scholarship board has kept Pureblood detractors from tearing apart the program. It's all very hush-hush."

"How do you know so much about it?" Black asked and Lupin nodded also curious. He had, of course, heard about it from an excited Lily in seventh year but she hadn't given him too many details. The ones she had given him hadn't been nearly as interesting as the ones Severus was giving.

"Lily invited me to the awards ceremony when she won it," Severus told them. "They spent about an hour and a half talking about the history of the program. I did some more research about it a couple of months ago though."

"Why?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Hermione is starting her research for her own essay this year," he answered. "I was helping her get all the paperwork in order."

"Hermione's on scholarship?" Black asked, surprised.

"She didn't used to be," Severus replied. "But the Muggle world is experiencing a bit of an economic downturn at the moment. Everyone is strapped for cash and every bit of help counts."

"What is she planning on writing about?" Mrs. Weasley asked, curious. She had always loved to hear Hermione talk. The girl was highly intelligent and the matriarch always walked away from a conversation knowing a little more than she had before.

"How to improve that new fangled Wolfsbane Potion," Severus said. "You know the one, Lupin."

"Yes," the werewolf replied guardedly.

"She thinks she knows how to get rid of the pain of the transformation."

"She does?" Lupin asked, perking up at the idea even though the girl's idea would probably fail. She may be smart but she was hardly a Potions Master. Not yet at least. "How?" Severus shrugged.

"Didn't ask, didn't care," he replied. "The idea probably won't work but the scholarship board is only interested in seeing if she knows how to work through a complicated problem. They don't expect her to succeed. That would be a miracle."

"Yeah, I guess it would," Black said a little sadly and Severus knew he was thinking of what a painless transformation might do for his friend's overall health. It would probably make Lupin a new man.

"Well," Severus said standing up and stretching. They had already been there for two hours and he wasn't much interested in anymore of a heart-to-heart than this had already been. He had shared more than he'd meant to but it would probably work out for the best. Maybe Mrs. Weasley would back off a little more. "I'm going to get a shower."

"Oh, wait! Severus!" Mrs. Weasley stopped him just before he went though the doorway. He turned to look at her over his shoulder. "Does Harry know about any of what you told us?"

"No," Severus said his tone a bit harsh. "And I'd ask you not to tell him."

"Why not?" Lupin asked. "Shouldn't he know before he turns seventeen and finds he has no inheritance?"

"I'll deal with that when the time comes but for now he doesn't need to know."

"I thought you told him everything," Mrs. Weasley countered clearly recalling Severus' policy on telling HJ everything he knew about Voldemort and his movements.

"Only when it matters," he retorted. "Voldemort's movements and plans matter. I plan on telling him about the prophesy after Christmas because that matters too and he deserves to know. This doesn't matter. Not yet. I know my kid, I know what he can handle when he can handle it."

No one at the table could argue with that. Despite them all caring very deeply about Harry's welfare none of them knew the boy like Severus did. Sirius had seen them finish each other's sentences. Harry had once grunted out an entire conversation and Severus had known exactly what each inarticulate grunt meant. Severus knew when Harry was feeling down even though the boy was a master at disguising his moods. The man knew his favorite food, color, animal, movie, band, and book. He knew what Harry was capable of handling and when.

Even Mrs. Weasley was now willing to except that.

When no one offered an argument Severus continued on his way out of the kitchen. He needed a shower and then there was an unanswered letter from HJ on his desk. Apparently the new DADA professor was a tyrant and HJ wanted his advice.

* * *

Next chapter will be centered at Hogwarts! Promise!


End file.
